Whether you’re brand new or a veteran online advertiser, it’s always a good idea to review some of the many reasons why online advertising should be a growing part of your marketing budget.

Here are seven important ones:

1.  Your customers are online. More than ever, consumers use the Internet to research and select products to purchase… even if they plan to buy them offline! Your advertising will prompt them to consider your products and services too.

2.  Your competitors are online. Not only are your direct competitors advertising online, but also many companies that now use the Internet to target your customers. How to fight back? Make sure your customers see your advertising to remind them why they like your products best.

3.  Online advertising is cost effective. You can reach a large audience quickly and at lower cost than many other media. And if you use search marketing for your advertising… you only pay when you get results!

4   No big investment needed to get started. You can launch a simple website for a hundred dollars, and begin marketing it for another couple hundred. And it will be easy to scale your efforts over time as you test and learn what works best.

5.  Everything is immediate. You can test and launch your advertising very quickly and generate responses almost immediately. Said another way, if you need customers tomorrow, not next month, advertising on the Internet may be the way to go!

6.  The Internet has gone local. You no longer need to worry about wasting your advertising dollars on the Internet masses. Just target the community you care about with one of the many options for local advertising such as the online yellow pages.

7.  Lots of ways to reach your target audience. The Internet is a great channel for delivering your message to very specific audiences and in the narrowest market niches. Besides geographic targeting, you can also target based on your customers’ demographic profile, types of behavior, and special interests.

Just keep in mind, when advertising online you’ll still need to develop a good marketing strategy, target your audience, test, measure and improve… just as you would with any other marketing program. And with a good strategy in hand, you will be well on your way to generating the results you’re looking for!

Since it’s that time of year… I’ll equate getting started with your Internet business with my annual New Year’s resolution to “get in shape” and join a gym. Of course, by late February I stop going and cancel my membership. Why? It’s hard work, results take too long, I can’t find the time, and it’s an another expense. (Sound familiar?)

Truth be told, I actually solved this problem years ago and now workout religiously. How did I make this happen? Same way as with our Internet business:

• Start with reasonable expectations: Like most good things… it’s going to take some time to get your Internet business up and running. So do your homework and estimate how long you think it’ll take based on your business goals. Now the important step: double your time estimate.

• Pace yourself: Don’t try to get it all done at once. Instead, list everything you want to do with your site and use this list as your road map to getting things done over time and at a manageable pace.

• Measure your progress: It’s really important to measure results since nothing encourages more than progress. Have your web person set up Google Analytics (it’s free) for your website and check it regularly.

• Celebrate your wins: Your first website visitor, blog comment, online order… celebrate! And keep setting reasonable goals and celebrating achieving them.

Before you know it, your Internet business will be up and running!